


Six, II | The Fighters [Discontinued]

by Milletrye



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Fantrolls, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-17
Updated: 2014-06-26
Packaged: 2018-01-12 20:01:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1197660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Milletrye/pseuds/Milletrye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The group of six is complete. After watching Alternia be destroyed, the trolls find themselves in a new and unknown world full of dangers and mysteries. But what first seemed like a fun and easy game soon becomes a matter of do or die. As friends start turning against each other and hidden enemies arise, all hope lies in the so-called Rainmaker. But what good is one single troll, and one vague prophecy, if the lines between truth and lie are blurred and not even Thikin, the troll who never lies, can be trusted anymore?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

[ ===> ](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1197657)

\---

It was quiet.

Too quiet.

After a horribly long minute or two, Priley finally opened his eyes. The warmth, the bright light, no, the entire meteor was gone. Everything was completely silent and nothing seemed to be damaged – nothing that had not been destroyed before, at least. In fact, the few broken objects were the only sign the apocalypse had happened in the first place.

A terrible thought crossed Priley’s mind. 

_Am I dead?_ , he wondered. _What if I am? Will the others be able to continue without me?_

That was when he remembered.

“Gwilyn!”, he even exclaimed. How could he possibly forget his client player? _What if_ he _is dead?_

Fearing the worst, the tealblood rushed over to his husktop that was still perfectly intact and running the game. Thikin had left the chat and disconnected completely, but Priley sighed in relief when he spotted Gwilyn online. So far so good...

\-- existentialisticScientist [ES] started trolling waryDefender [WD] \--

ES: [Gwilyn, are - you there?]

The other troll replied almost immediately.

WD: Priley!  
WD: I am s( ) glad y( )u are here.

_And I am glad that you are still alive._

ES: [Are you x alright?]  
WD: F( )r n( )w, yes.   
WD: But with the f( )rest burning and all th( )se mete( )rs falling fr( )m the sky, I have n( ) idea h( )w l( )ng I will (( )ntinue t( ) be.  
ES: [Well, then we x better get - started.]

Without thinking it through, Priley ejected the client disc in order to install the server copy, but as it turned out, the client window was still open and working just fine. And even if it didn’t, Thikin was not online anymore anyway.

To Priley’s relief, the server disc did not require much time to install, and the connection with Gwilyn’s client copy was quickly established. The scientist was now able to see the blueblooded troll inside of his hive that, just as Gwilyn had said, was still looking pretty well. The cursor was of a dark rust, just like Thikin’s had been, and Priley clicked through the various menus to find the one that would allow him to drop all those devices in Gwilyn’s hive.

When Priley finally created the first machine, the Tothem Lathe, in a suitable spot, the unprepared Gwilyn jumped.

WD: Priley, what are y( )u d( )ing?  
WD: And is that y( )u d( )ing that?  
ES: [Yes, that is + me! And trust me, I x am doing just what + Thikin had - done for me.]  
WD: If y( )u say s( ).

As the tealblood continued setting up the devices and telling his friend what to do, he was rather glad Gwilyn followed his orders without complaining or asking as many questions as Priley had posed when talking to Thikin minutes ago. He wouldn’t have had any good answer; Priley was hardly understanding anything about the game himself.

Only when Gwilyn released his kernelsprite, Priley had the feeling he knew what he was doing.

ES: [Do + you still have the x corpse of your lusus?]

Even from this perspective, he could see how uncomfortable this question made Gwilyn.

WD: Yes.   
WD: Why are y( )u asking?

_Everyone has prototyped their lusus_ , Priley thought. _There is no reason to break the chain._

And before Gwilyn could have reacted, the blueblood found himself staring at the floating head of his deceased custodian.

WD: ...Priley?  
WD: What did y( )u d( )?  
ES: [I prototyped - your lusus!]  
WD: And what d( )es that mean?

Yes, what did that mean?

ES: [I... am not x sure, but Thikin said + the sprite starts x talking 42 soon 42 you - are in the game.]  
WD: Just great, Priley. Really. D( )n’t y( )u remember that I sh( )t him last night?  
ES: [I do! I just + thought that this - might help you two fix your x relationship.]  
WD: I d( )ubt this is g( )ing t( ) be any g( )( )d.  
WD: Y( )u (( )uld have pr( )t( )typed Thikin and we w( )uldn’t get al( )ng any better.  
ES: [Okay, to - be fair, I also have my x doubts with Thikin having + prototyped Crowley.]  
WD: He did what?  
WD: That (an’t be g( )( )d.

_Of course!_ , Priley realized. Unlike Arlath, Gwilyn would actually believe him regarding the truth about Crowley and Thikin’s ancestor.

ES: [I + know! Can I tell - you something?]  
WD: N( )t n( )w, ( )kay?   
WD: I w( )uld rather get int( ) the game first.

The tealblood sighed. He realized Gwilyn had a point there, but he needed to share his theories with someone. Before it was too late.

Priley proceeded helping his friend with entering SGRUB up to the point where Gwilyn created his entry item that looked like... a skull?

WD: Are y( )u sure this is what is supp( )sed t( ) happen?

Just then, there was a loud noise outside. Something was breaking, and Priley could even identify beastlike voices. 

ES: [Gwilyn, I - have to + go!]  
WD: Wait, what am I supp( )sed t( ) d( )?

The strange noises didn’t stop.

ES: [Just interact x with it + somehow!]

The scientist really felt bad for leaving his friend alone, but he had to figure out where the sound was coming from.

Without disconnecting, or telling Gwilyn he was leaving now, Priley rushed out of his hive.

And immediately stopped.

There were no green forests anymore, no blue river and no black sky. Around him were only mountains – tall, gray, mountains -, the ground was of a bright blue and the sky was completely covered in clouds. He spotted little red dots in the far distance and gray streams spreading across the land.

This, most definitely, was not Alternia anymore.

“Welcome to LOCAW!”

Priley jumped at the unexpected voice. It seemed strangely familiar, but the troll had absolutely no idea who it could belong to.

Until he turned around.

Floating right in front of him was a light blue ghostlike creature with the head and front paws of Priley’s platypus lusus.

 _So Thikin was right_ , the tealblood grinned.

“Platypapa!”, he called out, extremely happy to see his lusus again. “You can talk!”

“Obviously!”, the platypus nodded, still with his typical growl. “And I can fly too!”

To demonstrate this, the sprite flew a couple of circles around Priley before staying still again, causing the scientist to chuckle.

“Where did you say we are?”, the troll then asked.

“On LOCAW, the Land of Clouds and Waterfalls!”

Priley looked around again. There was no water at all, just this weird, gray, and shiny liquid that seemed more like another chemical element altogether.

“Is that not mercury?”, the tealblood wondered.

“It is”, his sprite replied. “It used to be water though! Your denizen... wait, I am not supposed to tell you that!”

“What do you mean, you are not supposed to tell me that?”

“It is part of your quest to talk to the consorts and solve the mysteries of this land; I am only meant to be your guide, not to spoil everything!”

“Fair enough”, Priley mumbled, a little disappointed. But his face soon lit up again.

“Are we actually in the game now?”, he asked. “In virtual space?”

Platysprite growled; it sounded even more like a laughter than it usually did. 

“No, Priley”, he explained. “We are in the Medium!”

“The what?”

“The Medium! A realm that is a ring of pure void, dividing light and darkness.”

Wait, Gwilyn had been talking about this!

“Do you mean Prospit and Derse?”

“Yes!”, the sprite agreed, excitedly floating up and down. “And if you already know that, you might as well know that those two forces are in a constant strife.”

“I do know that! But where do we fit in?”

“You, Priley, and your friends as well, have caused an imbalance in the eternal stalemate of the two forces.”

What? No, that was not possible... the troll was sure he had not done anything bad.

Seeing the tealblood’s confusion, Platysprite quickly continued. 

“Everytime one of you prototypes their sprite for the first time, a pair of kernels is unleashed – one for each kingdom! They come to a rest in an orb of which there are six for each kingdom, one for each member of your session, and provide the King and Queen with powers based on what you have prototyped. Thus, the true war begins, and no matter what happens, Prospit is destined to lose.” 

“So Gwilyn was right with us having to help Prospit win?”, Priley inquired.

“Yes! I mean... spoilers!” Platysprite frowned a little. “I don’t think I am good at being a mere guide.”

“Of course you are!”, the troll grinned. “But anyway, I understand that we have to defeat Derse and all, but how are we supposed to do that?”

Platysprite pointed upwards with one of his webbed paws; above them was a portal-like object looking just like the spirograph on the loading screen.

“There are seven of these gates all over the six lands, and you will have to travel through all of them in order to reach Skaia, which is where the Black King is right now. You’ll have to solve riddles and puzzles on your way, and with the grist the underlings are dropping, you’ll be able to alchemize items and get stronger as well!”

“Underlings?”, Priley repeated.

The sprite nodded.

“Usually weak little creatures meant to serve as a source of experience and grist, and the majority of enemies you will encounter!”

Priley remembered the noises he had been hearing before – he had entirely forgotten them while talking to his sprite!

“Papa, say, have you heard those strange noises as well?”

“Yes, and I’ve seen their origin as well! Do you have your tonfa ready?”

He did not, and so the troll went back into his hive, grabbed his two tonfa, and returned outside.

“Alright, Priley, follow me!”

And with those words, Platysprite flew halfway around the hiveboat. Priley ran after him, not used to the quickness of his lusus, and suddenly faced three rather odd-looking creatures.

All three of them were of a gray color and about half the troll’s size. Two of them had wings, one of them a beak and another the bill of Priley’s lusus. 

And they all looked like they wanted a fight.

Priley lifted his tonfa, ready to strike. He was not an expert in close combat, he had never really needed his weapons after all – but he at least knew the basic techniques.

The first underling leaped forward, and Priley used his right tonfa’s short arm to punch it, not causing much damage. However, it stepped back, flapping its wings without actually flying. 

The one with the features of Priley’s lusus attacked next, not hurting the troll at all with its webbed feet. Priley countered with a swing of his right tonfa, keeping the left one in a defense position. This opponent was defeated immetiately, disappearing and dropping gray and blue objects the troll stepped on to collect, just like he was knowing it from video games.

His first opponent was charging once more, and by stabbing it repeatedly with his two tonfa’s long arms, Priley defeated it as well, making it drop more of the so-called grist.

Only one of the underlings was left, and the scientist was absolutely certain that with a well-placed attack, he could beat the creature in just one move. He prepared for the strike, raising his arms, and slammed down both tonfa at an incredible speed.

But his two weapons only hit the ground.

Perplexed and not having expected this at all, Priley looked around, searching for his enemy. 

But the underling was completely gone.

It only took the tealblood a second or two to realize what had just happened.  
The Kings and Queens were not the only ones possessing the abilities of the lusii, even the weakest underlings could teleport like Crowley always did.

 _There is no way they are supposed to be this powerful_ , Priley knew.

_Thikin, what have you done._


	2. Chapter 2

He couldn’t stand this noise.

This noise that he must have had heard a million times this night already.

This night that seemed everlasting on this planet.

_At least I won’t have to bother about going blind without the Alternian sun_ , the troll thought as he collected the grist yet another imp had dropped with a mechanical _pling_. They had grown stronger over the hours he had already spent in this dark place, getting larger and gaining more lusus attributes. This one had owned the wings of Jayven’s lusus, and the troll took it as a sign that only Unurak would still have to make it into the game - a rather easy task for someone claiming to have so much knowledge over everything that he’d even volunteer to be the very first server player. 

Still odd. In his opinion, the brownblood was knowing too much. And everything from that dumb planet Derse. What was even so great about that place full of pink buildings and black chess pieces?

“Nothing”, the troll mumbled. “Nothing at all.”

From the corner of his one eye, Thikin spotted yet another imp approaching him, and shot it down without even paying much attention.

Again, the _pling_.

Most of those creatures were no challenge to the troll. Only the ones that used Crowley’s powers were a little more fun to mess with.

Crowley… where even was he? Not that he’d care, the bird was always everywhere at once and at the same time nowhere at all. But even Thikin didn’t have a good feeling with his lusus now being a sprite; also because Crowleysprite hadn’t spoken anything but gibberish before teleporting away.

He had no idea what this land was called, what he even had to do. He could ask the others, of course. But why would he? He could as well use the time he now had to get even stronger than he already was.

This nameless land was actually not that bad, he figured. Peaceful and quiet except for those imps. Nothing but night and ruins.

Maybe he should consult the visions?

No. He already knew everything there was to know about the past, and the future only revealed itself to him when it wanted to, not when he did. He had gained a few visions about SGRUB before, his extensive knowledge coming from that, not Derse. But ever since he had entered, something was different. He didn’t receive any visions about Unurak anymore. He was used to not seeing Gwilyn, the blueblood’s Void powers had been active far earlier than the game’s beginning.

But Space players having similar powers was new to him.

_Hey._

“Who’s there?”, the troll shouted, readying both of his daggers at the sound of the unfamiliar, and unexpected, voice. He glanced around, unable to spot anyone.

_Yeah, you._

Yet again, there were no visions telling him what to do.

“Come out or I’ll find you!”, he snarled, getting impatient and even a bit… worried? No. His visions didn’t fail him, it was just no deadly encounter. That’s why there weren’t any visions.

Right?

_Stop shouting, I can’t hear you anyway._

_But you know me._

“Then who are you?”, the troll again asked, completely ignoring what the voice had just said from no particular direction… was it all just in his head?

_In case you’re wondering, call me Pete._

_I’m from Derse._

_Stabbed you once._

“You”, Thikin almost whispered now. “Chose to contact me again.” 

He remembered Unurak’s words. “The Predatory Trooper is waiting”, the brownblood had told him. Now he finally understood.

_Since we can’t really talk, rusty, unless you choose to wake up again._

“Since we can’t really talk, you can leave.”

_I’ll stop this for now._

The troll let out a sigh of relief.

_Also, uh._

_Sorry about accidentally unleashing that demon bird._

...what?

“Pete? Pete, get the fuck back here!”

Thikin didn’t get any reply.

“Pete?”

Just… great. Some weird Dersite voice in his head was the last thing he needed right now, especially if it was talking this cryptic. The troll looked around once more, still having a small piece of hope that the other one would just appear from behind a ruin or something.

Instead, he noticed another creature.

It was hard to spot since it was wearing a black coat-like blanket and not even half the rustblood’s size, but the green fur was what made it visible to his trained eye.

“And who are you again?”, Thikin asked the tiny creature that was tilting its head as if it was bowing to him - the lowest troll of the low!

“A mere follower of your cult, Seer.”

The rustblood raised an eyebrow and glared at the mammal.

“Okay, first off, stop bowing.”

The creature did so, and Thikin could now identify it as a rat with green fur.

“Second, what are you talking about?”

The rat looked up to him. 

“We have long waited for your arrival, Seer.”

“There’s more of you?” Was that good or bad? Actually, he quite liked the sound of that. A cult. _His_ cult.

“Should I lead you to our cathedral?”

He couldn’t believe it. Those rats were actually worshipping him. He was probably like a god to them… and he had absolutely nothing to say against that.

So he nodded.

The rat led him to one of the many ruins scattered across the land. Thikin learned that it was, in fact, called the Land of Night and Ruins, or LONAR for short. And he had to correct himself: their destination was not another ruin, but the only building that seemed to be actually intact.

It was, just like the rat had said, a cathedral, narrow and high, and when they entered through the doorless gate big enough for Thikin to walk through, the rustblood found himself standing in a huge, seemingly abandoned hall - though maybe, that was just the way rats were treating their sacred places.

“Truly as the lore had foretold”, the green rat whispered in awe as it followed behind the troll who had entered the place first. "The Savior of the Lonesome Land."

It was staring at something behind Thikin, and as the rustblood turned around to follow his companion’s gaze, he too widened his eyes.

In front of him was a wall almost entirely made of stained glass, depicting a hooded figure in a dark red garb and insect-like wings shaped like the symbol Thikin was wearing on his clothes. The figure had long, pointy horns and a blind left eye surrounded by a rust wound - this wall was holding an image of Thikin himself.

_Is this what highbloods feel like?_ , the troll wondered. Being admired like that was new to him, he only ever had been feared. _Both just ways of getting respect_ , he decided, quickly repressing these thoughs again. There were more important things to think about.

“What… what am I wearing on that?”, he asked.

“The Seer of Time’s God Tier garb”, the rat explained. “Your true powers will be unleashed as you ascend into godhood.”

Godhood? That sounded promising. Very promising.

“How do I reach this ‘God Tier’?”

“By dying in your Quest Cocoon, Seer.”

Dying, huh.

Well, if that meant getting even more powers than the timeline hopping he knew he could do but didn’t - then he definitely had nothing to lose.

And so it happened that Thikin went on a journey to search for his Quest Cocoon.

He still only was given vague directions, and the rat had chosen to not accompany him. The rustblood had learned that his - former - companion did not have a name, so he had chosen to call him Brux, for the quiet noise the rat had often made.

He sort of hoped to see him again.

As he wandered across the Land of Night and Ruins alone, Thikin had plenty of time to think. His computer was back at the tree; whoever decided to contact him would receive no reply.

Not that he wanted to talk to anyone, anyway.

He had never wanted this to be a social game. Destroying Alternia was something he couldn’t have avoided; all the effort he had put into killing highbloods and even the highest troll of all were worthless now. But with SGRUB, they would be creating an entirely new universe.

Wasn’t that what he had always been wanting? Killing highbloods had never been about peace. Thikin hadn’t wanted the castes to be equal.

No, he had been striving for domination, just like his ancestor.

And he still was.

He had always been following the path the Soulless had taken, and he would continue to do so. His visions had been the only thing he ever had; his ancestor the only troll he had ever known.

Aside from those he had never killed in order to play the game.

But maybe… maybe he didn’t even need them.

He was stronger than all of them, a better figher as well.

He could easily kill them all if he wanted to.

The troll didn’t care about the prophecy Priley’s ancestor had written. They said it was by the Soulless, but there was no way it could be. Thikin had watched every single moment of the murderer’s life, and he was completely sure that he had never mentioned any kind of prophecy - and his visions had never fooled the rustblood before either. He trusted them; they had proven to be more useful than any actual company Thikin had ever had.

He was now standing in front of a tall, red cocoon with the hologram of a gear floating over it.

“There we go”, he declared, tightening the grip around the daggers the Soulless himself had owned so many sweeps ago.

As he entered that fateful place, he cast aside all thoughts about Priley and the other trolls.

They didn’t matter to him now.

Nothing did as he laid down on the slab inside.

Nothing but the fact that the Soulless, his ancestor, would be proud of him.

Why wouldn’t he be.


	3. Chapter 3

\-- wingedGladiator [WG] opened private memo on board game discussion. --

\-- wingedGladiator [WG] invited joyfulCrony [JC] \--

\-- wingedGladiator [WG] invited existentialisticScientist [ES] \--

\-- wingedGladiator [WG] invited waryDefender [WD] \--

WG: is everyone there? <:  
JC: i am! C:  
WD: S( ) am I.  
ES: [Why did + you not invite x Thikin and Unurak?]  
WD: They aren’t ( )nline.  
WG: that’s the point! does anyone know where they are?  
JC: i got UnUrak into the game! C:  
JC: bUt i have no idea where he is! :C  
ES: [And Thikin - went offline after I + arrived on my land.]  
WG: oh yeah, i was gonna ask that too! how’s everyone’s planet?  
ES: [The Land of x Clouds and Waterfalls + is great! So nicely quiet - and peaceful.]  
JC: mine is awesome too! C: its the land of sUn and flowers and there are Cute little bUnnies everywhere!  
JC: bUt the light dries everything oUt so they are really sad and i need to help them so that everything stays nice :C  
WG: i’m sure you’ll manage that, jayven! <:  
WG: at least sounds easier than my job.  
ES: [What do you + need to do?]  
WG: the denizen has stolen all the gold from the <onsorts and i have to bring it ba<k!  
ES: [The denizen?]  
WG: that’s basi<ally the leader of all those underlings and either we talk to them or defeat them.  
ES: [Does everyone x have one?]  
WG: i guess so!  
WG: mine’s typheus.  
JC: and mine is CetUs!  
ES: [What about - you, Gwilyn?]  
WD: I’d rather n( )t talk ab( )ut any ( )f that.  
WG: well, you don’t have to! <:  
WG: anyway, we need to find out if the others are alright.  
WD: Why w( )uldn’t they be? They kn( )w en( )ugh ab( )ut the game t( ) survive by themselves.  
JC: bUt if something happened wed never know!  
WG: agreed. someone needs to <heck on them.  
WD: And h( )w are we supp( )sed t( ) d( ) that?  
ES: [Dad said + there are gates that - can bring us to the x lands of everyone else!]  
ES: [So we just need to find - the right gate x to arrive on their + planets.]  
JC: ill go searCh for UnUrak then!  
WD: It’s t( )( ) danger( )us t( ) g( ) al( )ne.  
WD: I’ll (( )me with y( )u.  
ES: [And I will - search for Thikin!]  
WG: alright then.  
WG: don’t forget to inform everyone as soon as you have news!  
JC: will do! C:  
WG: i’ll leave this memo open just in <ase, now go find the others! <:

As if he wanted to.

In fact, he was not keen on searching for Unurak at all.

He didn’t like the brownblood very much, and that was about the only thing he and Thikin actually both agreed with.

Although he almost even wished for Unurak to get lost, he was quite concerned. Two trolls were missing, the ones most likely to cause trouble, he knew.

He was completely certain Thikin was plotting something this very second. He could, and would, never trust the troll that had almost killed him and his moirail so many sweeps ago.

Gwilyn constantly looked around as he walked across the dark blue surface of his land, expecting Thikin to appear from behind every single crate that gave the planet its name: LOPAC, the Land of Plains and Crates.

This land was perfect for Thikin, he thought. Far more than enough places to hide behind and attack from. The blueblood became more nervous with every step as he thought about Thikin – he would not be able to defend himself if the rustblood showed up.

Still, he was carrying his bow and ready to shoot within seconds in case underlings, or Thikin, appeared. He was well aware that he was useless in close combat, however – with no such weapon or any physical strength at all.

Someone was laughing behind him, and he flinched a bit, but soon relaxed as he realized it wasn’t his murderous companion.

It were two of the purple owls inhabiting his land, and whatever sound they were making, Gwilyn could not unhear the laughter. But he didn’t care.

They had every reason to laugh at him, anyway.

His lusus, and now sprite, had ensured him often enough how much of a failure he was, merely strong enough to lift a bow and too much of a wimp to hurt anyone.

And even though Gwilyn knew he had been making the right choice when he had stopped following the caste system, he still felt that his lusus, and other highbloods, and those purple owls, could not be entirely wrong.

Even Thikin had not been wrong as he had told him that he was strong – and that Gwilyn was weak.

“Oh well”, he sighed upon arriving at a round, floating gate the shape of the spirographs the game seemed to constantly incorporate into its design.

He might not be good at fighting, but at least he had enough agility to jump through the gate and land on both of his legs, something he knew others, like Priley, failed to achieve.

Gwilyn looked around once more – and immediately shut his eyes. This land was far brighter than his own, with a blazing sun in the sky and colorful flowers surrounding the blueblooded troll. Slowly opening his eyes again, he took a closer look at the plants: they had every color, every shape and every size imaginable, from hand-sized to as tall as the castle he had once owned before moving to the woods. Jayven had been right about the consorts as well, the troll noticed as a group of small orange rabbits passed him. They looked sad, he realized, and he soon understood why: there was not a single drop of water anywhere.

“Gwilyn!”, a familiar voice cheered.

Before he managed to turn to the sound, a smaller troll hugged him lightly – his moirail, Jayven.

“Hello, Jayven”, Gwilyn greeted back. “How are you?”

“As great as usual”, the other troll replied. “But my consorts are still making me upset... we have to find the denizen to make everyone happy again!”

Gwilyn could feel the ache in his heart. All his moirail wanted was to make everyone happy, and all the blueblood wanted was to make Jayven happy. But they had other priorities.

“We need to find Unurak first, remember?”

Jayven nodded.

“Right! And I think I know where the gate to his land is located, let’s go and search for him!”

“Alright, then lead me”, Gwilyn agreed in relief. His moirail had realized what was the most important thing to do, and he had not complained at all.

_How can one even be friends with Unurak_ , the blueblood thought. Then again, when had Jayven ever truly disliked anyone?

Well, alright, there was one such troll.

“Thikin!”

Yes, and Jayven would say that name in the exact same – wait, what?

Suddenly, Gwilyn felt the tight, shaking grasp of his moirail. _No_ , he thought, panic rising in his mind. _Not now._

“Now look at that. Two of you at once. Now I’ll have to decide who to kill.”

“Thikin, what do you –“ The blueblood paused as soon as he had turned around to face the intruder. Thikin had changed, he felt, and not just because he had actually stated he would kill one of them, something he had never said before. No, it were his clothes that both concerned and confused Gwilyn.

The rusblood was wearing a red tunic that went all the way down to his rust shoes, and over the garb adorned by a bright red gear symbol was a rust hood that, as usual, covered the troll’s face almost entirely. But the most stunning feature were the two wings spreading from Thikin’s back, shaped just like his Trollian symbol. And whatever this was supposed to mean, it was nothing good for sure.

“Impressed?”, the rustblood grinned. “That’s what they’re calling God Tier in this game. Seer of Time, remember?”

“As if I _wouldn’t_ remember”, Gwilyn said, trying to hide his still rising fear of the God Tiered troll. If he really was going to kill one of them, neither would stand even the smallest chance.

“Well, I better ask, considering you’re a Void player. Void means nothing, as we both know. Might as well forget things.”

“Again, Thikin, what do you want?”, the blueblood replied, trying not to pay attention to the other’s words.

“I’m killing you, I told you”, Thikin said, not sounding as if he would care at all. As usual.

“You won’t”, Gwilyn argued, nocicing how his moirail covered even more behind him now. “And you can’t, remember? You’re not allowed to kill any of us.”

“That’s what Arlath said”, the rustblood seemed to agree, “but _before_ the game. The only reason for not killing you was to get into the game properly. We all are now, so there’s no need to hold on to that stupid promise.”

Gwilyn knew where this was going, he knew it just too well. He grabbed his bow, trying to give Jayven a comforting glance. Even if one, or both, of them would die now, keeping his moirail optimistic was the least he could do.

Protecting him, at the very least.

“Feels just like four sweeps ago, doesn’t it”, Thikin smirked, readying an arrow as well. “Just you and me and our bows and arrows.”

Suddenly, the blueblood got an idea. It was not the best one, but it could at least give him and Jayven a bit of a chance.

“Just us and our weapons”, Gwilyn confirmed. “A fair duel this time. Trust me”, he added to Jayven, sounding as confident as possible. The mutant nodded and reluctantly stepped aside.

Thikin too took a few steps back, now facing Gwilyn in a distance appropriate for two archers.

“We shoot at the same time”, the blueblood shouted, his voice shaking nervously. “And neither of us will move even an inch.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever”, Thikin replied. “I won’t use my visions, don’t worry.”

Gwilyn concentrated. He was a good archer; no, a great one. The bow was the perfect weapon for a troll like him – easily underestimated, light enough to carry, and silent and graceful like shadow and night. It was the only thing he truly considered himself good at, he was even well aware that there hardly was any other troll on Alternia to have mastered the bow like this.

Thikin was such a troll, Gwilyn thought. Even though the rustblood was also skilled with his daggers, he knew how to shoot. Images of the night four sweeps ago flashed before Gwilyn’s eyes, of Thikin’s skill when it came to this weapon. Half of his skill came from the visions though, the blueblood assumed. He had no doubt they had turned even more powerful, now that Thikin was a true Seer of Time. And Gwilyn himself was nothing but a player of Void. Of nothing.

_He could just use his visions on me and kill me_ , the blueblood thought. _But he won’t. What if... he can’t?_

The realization hit him just the moment he saw a small movement on Thikin’s side, and a far bigger one on Jayven’s. Gwilyn too leaped forward now, not caring about the rules.

But the second he took his first step, he knew he would not make it.

“Jayven!”, he called out as he saw his moirail sink to his knees, an arrow piercing right through his upper body. Blue tears rolled down the highblood’s face as he quickly examined the shot, realizing within a second that Jayven was dead.

“What have you done?”, he yelled at Thikin who was keeping a more or less respectful distance as he levitated nearby.

“I didn’t break the rules”, the rustblood shrugged, seemingly unbothered by the events, even a little amused. He pointed to the place Gwilyn had been standing. “I shot at you, and I know you are well aware of that. He was so foolish to get in the way.”

“What am I going to do now?”, Gwilyn asked, barely paying attention to Thikin’s words. Jayven was dead, and it was his fault. _Why did I come up with this stupid idea?_ He should have shot earlier. He could have killed Thikin, and this wouldn’t have happened.

“That’s none of my business”, the rustblood declared. “It was an accident, I was just passing through anyway. So if you excuse me, I’m off to the Land of Leaves and Frogs.”

“Don’t you dare leave me now!”, Gwilyn yelled, knowing it was useless. Thikin was not going to stay, why would he. And indeed, he already saw the other troll disappear. “Okay, fine, when did you ever not leave? As if you’d have changed since back then, _Soulless._ ”

He supposed yelling at Thikin made things better; helped him forget what had happened for only a moment. He continued this admittedly ridiculous behavior for a couple of minutes, well aware that the rustblood was long gone. But eventually, his voice completely cracked, and all he continued to do was cry.

He didn’t know how much time had passed when he heard the buzzing of insect-like wings.

“What is it now, Thikin?”, Gwilyn said without looking up.

“I’m not that scary troll!”, a rather old, yet weirdly humming voice replied.

Surprised, Gwilyn turned around, looking right at the orange-white face of a pig with a bug’s wings and wood-like textures spreading across its body - Jayven’s sprite. The blueblood immediately shrunk a little.

“I… I am sorry, I… I could not protect him…”

“You did your best!”, the sprite said. “And there was no way you could have saved him!”

“That’s very helpful, really.” Gwilyn sighed. “And why is it you’re still so happy?”

“Oh, that’s easy! Just like you weren’t able to save me when I died, you weren’t able to save him when he did.”

“Thanks for the reminder”, the troll said. “But you’re a sprite now. Alive again.” _And he isn’t._

“That’s right!”, the sprite cheered. “And we can save Jayven as well!”

Gwilyn froze. “We… we can? But he...”

“...is in just the right conditions for going God Tier!”

God Tier? Wait, wasn’t that the thing Thikin had mentioned? Would this grant Jayven wings and probably a whole lot of powers as well? Either way, if this could bring his moirail back, there was no reason to not do it.

After a short pause, he nodded. 

“Alright, what do I do?”

The sprite pointed to a tall structure on the horizon, a couple of miles away.

“We have to bring him to the Quest Cocoon before it’s too late!”

Gwilyn looked at his dead moirail again. _Smiling as usual…_

“I won’t be able to carry him, and I doubt my nonexistent Void powers could help.” And even if, they were useless in this place of Light, he thought.

“Don’t worry! I’ll carry him and you follow me.”

Gwilyn nodded again. “Lead the way.”

The blueblood was not the strongest troll, but a great runner. He was not as fast as Nivali, Jayven’s best friend - who was, though -, but he had no problem keeping up with the fast sprite. Gwilyn was not exhausted at all, and even if he was, he wouldn’t have stopped. The only thing on his mind now was saving Jayven, and questioning what was going on with Thikin. The rustblood was on his way to Unurak’s land. Were they allies? Enemies?

_Is that what Priley had wanted to tell me before?_ , he suddenly wondered. _That his moirail went insane like this?_

_No. He’d have told us in the memo. Right?_

He would ask Priley later, for sure.

Suddenly, the sprite paused, and so did Gwilyn. Now that he stood still, he noticed how exhausted he actually was. Taking deep breaths, he looked up to the top of the orange cocoon that was now in front of them, the gold symbol of a sun floating above.

“Let’s hurry up”, Gwilyn said nervously. _What if we are too late?_

He followed the sprite inside and watched him lay Jayven down on a slab. The blueblood closed his eyes and crossed his fingers. _Come on, Jayven. Don’t leave me. Please._

Suddenly, a bright light flashed in front of his eyes. He opened them, closing them again immediately because of the light. A couple of seconds later, he considered it dark enough to open his eyes again - and Jayven was not on the slab anymore. Gwilyn looked around, not spotting his moirail.

And then, he looked up.

Levitating in the air was Jayven, wearing orange pants and a slightly brighter shirt with the sun symbol on it, as well as a long red-orange hood. The wound Thikin had caused was healed completely, as if it had never existed, and he now had insect-like wings similar to those of his lusus.

Gwilyn noticed he was crying again, but this time out of happiness, as he saw his moirail alive and well.

“Jayven!”, he called out, and the mutant flew down to him with a grin on his face bigger than any Gwilyn had ever seen. Jayven did not pause, he straight up hugged the blueblood, almost pushing him to the ground with his immense speed. Gwilyn gladly hugged him back, as tight as he could.

“You… you are alright…”, the blueblood whispered. “Why did you do that?”

Jayven frowned a little, although Gwilyn was unable to see that.

“I wanted to save you! You’ve saved my life so many times and I’ve never done any moirail things for you so I did now!”

“Jayven…” Gwilyn pulled away from him, looking him right into the eyes as the blueblood himself was smiling for the first time in who knew when. “You give me so much more than I could ever return. Don’t… don’t ever do that again, alright?”

Jayven nodded, smiling again. “Okay, I promise I won’t!”

“Good.” Gwilyn nodded as well. “I still can’t believe _this happened_. That you’d make it at all, and now look at you!”

Jayven giggled a little.

“Guess I just had luck!”


	4. Chapter 4

\-- waryDefender [WD] opened private memo on board game discussion. --

WD: Guys, we have a pr( )blem.  
WG: a problem? what's wrong?  
WD: Thikin.  
WG: weren't you gonna sear<h for unurak? priley was the one looking for thikin!  
ES: [Yes, about + that. It seems x that...]  
WG: yeah?  
ES: [...it seems that - he is nowhere to + be found.]  
WD: Did y( )u even start l( )( )king? Y( )u (( )uld have av( )ided this.  
ES: [Hey!]  
ES: [I mean, I... fine.]  
ES: [But my - land is just so magnificent!]  
WD: We have t( ) d( ) ( )ur tasks if we want t( ) survive.  
WG: that's true! but arguing about that is useless now. why don't you tell us what happened?  
WD: I was meeting Jayven ( )n his land, L( )SAF. And then, ( )ut ( )f n( )where, Thikin atta(ked us.  
ES: [What? He would + never do that!]  
WD: Well, he did.  
WD: Anyway, he was wearing strange red (l( )thes, and he had wings.  
WG: wings??  
WD: The inse(t kind, yes. He t( )ld us he was a fully realized Seer ( )f Time n( )w, and then, eventually... he killed Jayven.  
ES: [RO]  
WG: he did what?????  
WD: ...what I said. P( )int is, with the help ( )f his sprite... I managed t( ) bring him t( ) his quest (( )(( )( )n. And he... he as(ended.  
ES: [So he... he is x alive again?]  
WD: And with me n( )w, yes.  
WG: that's <awsome! so he is all powerful and stuff now?  
WD: I supp( )se s( ).  
WD: But the m( )re imp( )rtant thing is that Thikin went (( )mpletely insane. And he is g( )ing t( ) kill all ( )f us if we d( )n't st( )p him.  
ES: [Then I will + do it.]  
WG: it's gonna be dangerous! you know what he's <apable of.  
ES: [And that is exactly + why I need to be the - one to stop him. The prophecy, + remember?]  
WG: priley, i told you that idea is ridi<ulous!  
WD: Wait. What idea? The thing y( )u wanted t( ) tell me earlier?  
ES: [Yes! You see, I believe - you were right about x the Soulless being the creator - of the prophecy!]  
WD: ( )h? Well, is that all y( )u f( )und ( )ut?  
ES: [Of course not. I also + believe that Crowley w42 not + only responsible for - Thikin's visions, but also x constantly manipulated them somehow!]  
WD: What? H( )w?  
ES: [I am not quite - sure yet – but I am certain x the Soulless intended to warn + us about exactly that!]  
WD: Either way, s( )mething strange is g( )ing ( )n here.  
SW: and i sure aint responsible for that.  
WG: unurak!  
SW: yeah. hey.  
WG: where have you been?  
SW: lolaf. finding out about space.  
ES: [And what did + you find out? You were - worrying us!]  
SW: to create the new universe. we need a frog. and the sessions knight is supposed to assist the space player with that.  
WG: but we don't have a knight!  
ES: [Gwilyn, I think - you should tell them.]  
WG: huh?  
WD: Sigh. ( )kay, well... t( ) sum it up, I'm n( )t a Mage. I'm a Knight.  
WG: but gwilyn! you said...  
WD: I kn( )w what I said. Let it be, alright.  
WG: okay. in this <ase, you should go with unurak and help him!  
WD: I will.  
WG: good! and priley, you go find out what's going on with thikin.  
WG: and be <areful, all of you!  
ES: [Do not worry, I + will be!]  
SW: i guess.  
SW: and dont be late. highblood.  
WD: Yeah, yeah. But fine.  
WG: well then, good lu<k!

Thikin grinned as he closed his husktop. This had all been way too easy.

After his unsuccessful visit on LOLAF to meet Unurak and the return to his tree, he had logged onto Trollian and, naturally, had been invited to the group memo by Priley. He had then discovered an option to hide his presence in said memo, and nobody had noticed him as they were chatting.

While he did find the latest news on everyone's whereabouts, and Jayven's ascension, highly interesting, Priley's words only frustrated him. What was he even thinking, talking about his ancestor like that? Soulless had nothing to do with the prophecy! And vision manipulation? Impossible!

Thikin stepped out of his tree and walked around it, muttering insults. Didn't they trust him anymore? The rustblood’s hands moved down to his weapons. His daggers, owned by the Soulless so long ago. He had been lying at Priley earlier - or, well, twisted the truth: his visions gave him access to the past whenever he touched a person or object, not only when he touched blood or whatever. And these two daggers were the keys to the life of the Soulless.

He froze.

“The keys”, he mumbled once more, not believing the thoughts he just had. _The keys that I grant thee…_

What if the others were right? If that prophecy was by the Soulless, this line would fit perfectly. What came next?

_The sacred land…_ could he have meant LONAR? It was sacred to the consorts, just like he was.

_Are dry desert sand in the palm of your hand…_ He looked down at the daggers. No fancy weapons at all, clearly showing signs of the many sweeps they had existed already. Like desert sand, they were useless if one didn’t know how to use them - by enhancing the visions.

“Without the water, the wisdom of past… will run through your fingers, forgotten so fast…”, he said now with normal volume, still walking around the tree, faster and faster in an attempt to understand what was going on. But what was that supposed to mean? _The water_? What if the truth everyone had been speaking about, the one he failed to see, was only accessible to him with the help of this… water? But what _was_ it?

Thikin was now full of anger and frustration, throwing a fit and yelling meaningless sounds into the vastness of his land. _It isn’t a lie_ , he repeatedly tried to convince himself. _My visions are real. My visions are right._ He had believed in them his entire life; he had trusted them - he wouldn’t just stop that now. There was no reason to.

“Why?”, he eventually screamed, not even knowing what he wanted to know. Why did the prophecy matter to the others? Why did they think the Soulless had made it? Or… why did Crowley make him get visions of the past only to manipulate and completely change them after all? And if that, then how?

“Why everyone hates you? Because we’re too good for them, that’s why.”

Thikin turned around, not having expected any feedback at all. The new voice sounded strangely familiar - and as he faced the other person, he looked right at… himself.

But the rustblood had no reason to be confused about that, he was a Time player after all.

“Hello, me”, he replied, still anger in his voice. “I thought we agreed on time travel.”

The other one shrugged. “My timeline got pretty boring after I was the only one left, so I went over to yours.”

The alpha Thikin remembered now. After having God Tiered, he had been receiving visions about other, parallel timelines more and more frequently. It had been highly confusing at first, even for him, but after learning how to differentiate between doomed and alpha timelines, the rustblood had decided not to interfere with anything happening in other timelines. “Which one of the doomed alone ones are you?”

The other one grinned. “The one that killed everyone else.”

Alpha Thikin glared at the other one. “You did what?”

A chuckle. “Don’t act so surprised. Weren’t you planning to do exactly that just an hour ago?”

“Well, yeah, but - “

“But what? Did that ridiculous prophecy make you change your mind? You know the truth, and it’s what we’ve seen all our lives.”

“Look, I was just considering - “ But he was interrupted again.

“The possibility of your ancestor having lied to you? What kind of traitor are you?”

The doomed Thikin saw the other one flinch slightly at this, and he grinned even more.

“I’ll tell you one thing, alpha. If there was such a thing as a real prophecy, I’m sure this so-called _Rainmaker_ would have prevented me killing him. I even made sure I attacked him first so I wouldn’t have to deal with him later, and he turned out to be nothing but a fake.”

“Oh, and how did you know who he is?”

The doomed Thikin sighed. “Seriously? It was obvious from the beginning. Would’ve thought you’d have figured it out already too.”

Alpha Thikin rolled his eye. “Well, I obviously didn’t. So would you tell me?”

“Tell you? Why don’t you just try to stop me from killing him and thereby find out?”

“You know how it works”, the alpha argued. “We’re the same person, we’re equally strong. Fighting each other would lead nowhere.”

The doomed one nodded. “I see your point… so, I have to get stronger to defeat this traitor of ancestry you are?”

“I’m not betraying anyone”, Thikin groaned, looking at the other’s God Tier garb that was, of course, equal to his own. “And I don’t see how you could possibly get more powerful than this.”

The other one pulled out something from under his garb, a white necklace with the SGRUB spirograph on it.

The alpha wasn’t too impressed. “Does that give you any great powers or anything?”

“You don’t have one yet?”, the other asked, looking genuinely surprised, then shrugged it off. “You get this thing when you’re on good terms with your sprite and advanced in this game. Allows you to summon it. Now let’s see… you prototyped only Crowley, huh. Well, in that case, thank you very much.”

With those words, he clasped the amulet, and with his usual bright green flash of light, Crowleysprite, wearing his own necklace without having given alpha Thikin one yet, appeared. And before the rustblood could have done anything, his doomed self jumped right into the sprite and a bright white light nearly blinded Thikin.

“Oh yes… this feels good.”

Thikin opened his one healthy eye again. Hovering in front of him was his doomed self, with a sprite’s ghost-like tail and Crowley’s wings; his body flashing in bursts of green light. And faster than any vision that could have warned him, Thikin found himself pushed down to the ground.

“Is that powerful enough to you?”, the newly created Thikinsprite smirked, his voice now mixed with the eerie tune of Crowley.

Thikin hissed, attempting to stab the other one - who, within the blink of an eye, teleported some feet away; the rustblood’s attack hitting the void.

A snicker, mixed with a caw, was heard.

Thikin stood up again since the other showed no sign of attacking him, appearing as tall as possible - useless against this floating sprite, he was well aware. 

“If you are trying to kill the others, I will stop you”, he declared, his voice showing he knew he stood no chance.

“I’ll be waiting for you on LOCAW then, the Land of Clouds and Waterfalls. Perfect conditions for some rain, don’t you think?”

Thikin froze, knowing that his moirail was on his way to a portal, and therefore still on LOCAW, right now.

“Don’t you dare.”

“Try and stop me.”

And with that, the omnipotent being vanished in a green flash of light.


End file.
